Bleak Week 2019!

What a gift my friend Jane gave us when she told me about her family's annual holiday, Bleak Week, three years ago now. What I love is how thoroughly and immediately my husband embraced the idea. A week-long holiday in the worst part of the worst month (sorry, January, but it's only too true) in which we find lots of things that make us happy and do them? Yes please! Happily my dear neighborhood friend Becca also pounced on this idea on hearing it and now their family are our Bleak Week partners. Makes it more fun because we have so far always planned at least one or two events together.

This year we picked the week of Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday - bleak week began on Monday the  21st and continued through Sunday. Well...truth be told we kind of started some celebrations the Friday and Saturday and Sunday before. I mean, why not?

The biggest event of the opening weekend was having a family dinner with my brother Adam and his wife, who was in town for her 40th birthday. She celebrated appropriately by trying to go skiing and promptly injuring her knee - promptly as in, half way down her very first run of the day. If it weren't so sad and disappointing it would be slightly funny. I mean, you go skiing to celebrate turning 40 and get injured. That's just perfect, right? Welcome to your 40s darling! I felt so bad for her. I didn't see them that day but I did cook dinner for them on Sunday. I tried so hard to cook a really delicious meal - I did the best I could. I started with a salad - arugula, goat cheese, roasted tomatoes, toasted pumpkin seeds, dried cranberries. I did mashed potatoes with sage and brown butter. I did coq a vin with sweet potatoes and mushrooms and I just really really tried to be Whitley-worthy. I think I did ok. The chicken could have been better but the sauce was good. Oh and a killer carrot cake. That cake was freaking good. Should maybe have been the whole meal. But anyway, I was really trying, which I guess shows how much respect I have for Whitley's cooking and fine tastes. And it went well but you should have seen my kitchen. That meal took me the entire afternoon on Sunday and pretty much every dish in my kitchen. Luckily we gathered at my dad's clean and tidy house. Maybe that doesn't sound fun but I did enjoy cooking and I did enjoy being with my family. Pictures? Of course not.

Monday was a day off of school for the kids. We had plans for Troy to come home early and for us to go to Crystal Hot Springs, with a friend in tow for each of our kids. We weren't sure that it would end up happening after all because our valley got pounded with quite the snowstorm all day. We started making alternate plans - maybe a game night in front of the fire or something? Not quite as exciting as the hot springs, but the girls started to get themselves used to the idea. Happily during the day they were invited to go see the new Mary Poppins with the friends they invited, so that kept them busy for a while. In the mean time, Troy carefully studied the weather and realized that the storm was really focused more to the south of us. I mean, we got a good six inches or so, but The Becky lives in Cottonwood Heights and they got a foot! The farther north you looked the less storm there seemed to be. So, we decided to go for it!

We picked up the friends and made our way north. It was almost comical how the farther north we went the less snow there was to the point that once we hit Ogden, it almost seemed like no snow had fallen at all. The roads were pleasant, not at all snowy once we got past Salt Lake county. The kids were happy and didn't go too crazy sitting all smashed together in the car, and we got to Crystal Hot
springs in time for there to be a little light before the sun went down. As always, a good long soak in that water was just glorious. And we will happily bring friends for our kids again - they all got along great and had fun having a personal buddy there. And Troy and I could be alone. Alone with the dozens and dozens of other people there.

Pictures? Of course not.

Thus Bleak Week was fully underway - of course it's a little tough to really party hard during a regular school and work week. But we did our best. On Tuesday we met up for dinner at Panda Express, the favorite restaurant of pretty much all of us. After dinner Troy and the girls enjoyed browsing through Barnes and Noble while Chase and I headed to guitar.

Wednesday Troy had the great idea of putting our new back-porch accessory to use and having a campfire dinner on Wednesday. This maybe sounds like it would have been unpleasantly cold or not that exciting, at least not enough to overcome the gloom of a cold January night. Wrong! It was really delightful. The fire was toasty enough to warm our circle and make it quite pleasant. We giggled as we acted like it was summer - cooking hotdogs around the fire and then making s'mores with perfectly toasted marshmallows. My job was to load the graham crackers with thick squares of chocolate and then hold them near the flames to get the chocolate just a little bit melty. It was very cozy. Not especially healthy, but definitely cozy.

Sadly, Troy had to work late on Thursday evening. He had a successful day tackling a big job at work, which I know was satisfying and anti-bleak, but I was sorry we couldn't do something as a family. The girls and I ended up having a delightful time together. Chase stayed home and hung out with a friend while we ladies headed over to our Bleak Week partners' home and enjoyed a cookie or two while introducing Romney to possibly my all time favorite movie, Sense and Sensibility, the Emma Thompson version. My own Emma tried to get through a bit of it but it she's not quite ready for Jane Austen. Romney, however, appeared to love it. I hope she's not loving it just for my sake. She assured me that wasn't true. It was really fun. There's nothing quite like sharing something you love with someone for the first time and getting to enjoy all of their first reactions and impressions. Jane Austen is definitely a big part of my Bleak Week. That's something I do on my own to combat the blues - and it lasts all January long, not just this one week. Cram in as much Jane Austen as I can!

Friday night we set a date for a karaoke dance party. Our friends Bob and Tawnee were so sweet to host and share their karaoke stuff with us. There was a great spread of munchies and we didn't hesitate to jump into both those and the singing. I'm going to say that before this evening, every time I was at a karaoke party I just could not bring myself to sing. I really was so sure I sounded awful and I couldn't hear myself to tell if I was off key that it was just too mortifying. But somehow on this night I just let that all go and had a great time singing. I'm sure I did sound a little funky but since I couldn't hear myself it worked out ok. What a great time. Looking forward to singing more soon!

Clearly my Bleak Week celebrations did not include a lot of photography - I'l make that more of a goal next year. I was just happy for our lovely week together. We finished off the week with a gathering of our poetry group on Saturday night at our home, enjoying soups and salad and bread and lots and lots of gut-busting laughter. No better medicine for a cold January night, if you ask me.

Still January.

Here is the official photo of January:Thank you, Raising Arizona. That image is a masterpiece. I especially enjoy the slipper on one foot and her hairdo. In an effort to break up the month and get a little happy, here's what we have been up to:

The first week back to school had the happy ending of the girls and I going to Hale Center Theatre to see The Wizard of Oz with Kathleen and Lucy. You know, Hale just really is a great place to see musicals. I love how steep the seating is, because there is never ever anyone blocking your line of sight. They absolutely go all out to make the show breathtaking. I mean, the lights, the effects, the houses and witches and tornados dropping out of the rafters - it's just breathtaking. And the talent of the actors is so solid. Kathleen and I both confessed that hearing Dorothy sing Somewhere Over the Rainbow live made us get weepy. All the feels. This is a great way to spend an evening, and I can't wait to go again. 

We have been blessed to get a few storms come through this month, keeping the nasty inversion away  for more of the month than usual. Don't get me wrong, we've had some bad days, but it's never lasted for the eternity that it has other years. Of course I'm pretty sure the month will end with some solid inversion, but I'm grateful for the storms we had. Troy and Romney made it a priority to get out into the mountains for some snowshoeing one Saturday after we got snow. I love that Romney enjoys doing this with her dad so much. They got up early and headed for Milcreek Canyon, largely beating the huge crowds who had all arrived by the time they were down from their snow walk. Isn't she so cute?

Here's another little burst of joy I came upon this month, though it's not quite as epic, healthy, bonding or athletic as snowshoeing:

I found this in the computer lab where I work as the computer teacher at an elementary school.  I absolutely love finding the treasures that unsuspecting kids leave behind there. I find little plastic rings, I find erasers and origami and headbands. But of course my favorites are the notes and the artwork. This particular gem just made me smile. No idea who left it, which is probably best. I'd be worried to hang out with that particular child from now on. 

Also a happy January moment - finding my boots! I realized that I really wanted a pair of low boots with no heel. (This is a really dumb thing to blog about but it made me happy so...I'm going to continue.) So I was hunting and hunting for the right boots, and I just could not find them! They were all too fashionista, which is great, but not when I wanted to wear them around the snowy playground. Oh gosh and they were all so expensive too. But then...I decided to check the kids section. I found the perfect pair. I found them in the largest size the kids area had to offer, and they totally fit and are totally perfect. I love them. And they were $25. Thank you.

Okay last of all....I did some organizing. Of course I did. It's January 2019, which means that "Tidying with Marie Kondo" just got released on Netflix and the whole of the United States is bingeing on it. I have owned her book for several years but never read it because I knew that the minute I did I wouldn't be able to stop myself from reorganizing every possession I own. Then the show got released, and of course I just watched a little and then I watched all of it, and then I realized that seeing her in action is way more influential than reading a book. I spent a whole Saturday dumping out every single item of clothing I own onto my bed and carefully choosing the things that make me the most happy and learning how to fold them into tidy little packages. Poor Troy. I think I must make him a little nuts. I'm not insisting on organizing a single thing of his, but honey, the offer is there.

Okay, so those are a few things that have helped us make our way through the month, slowly advancing towards our favorite week...Bleak Week!

Happy New Year!

2019 is underway! Slowly but surely we are dragging our way through this glorious month. Gloriously HEINOUS. I'm trying to have a chipper attitude about January, really I am. But since it is currently sundown and it's 30 degrees outside and very gray, I'm struggling. STRUGGLING.

So I realized that I forgot to include the post-Christmas Family Christmas party! It is after all a tradition for the Preslars to gather on the Saturday after Christmas to exchange gifts and have a meal together. This year Troy and I took a turn planning. I don't think it's been that long since we hosted the party, but Troy's oldest brother just moved to Vernal and things are kind of up in the air so we just went ahead and did it. Most of the time we gather at a church building and we were thinking of doing just that. But then we started counting up the number of people coming and we realized that life for our family is changing! The grandkids are growing up! Many of them are not living at home, some even out of state. Our group has really shrunk in size. And we realized how little space we actually needed. We decided to call my dad and ask him for a favor. He has a home with really a very nice open space for meeting. We were very grateful that he agreed to have us there. What a nice cozy gathering.

Our meal plan was soup and bread bowls which was delicious. We exchanged gifts - we gave to Sam and Kathleen this year. I was very excited that I had the idea to give the gift of a play ticket to Kathleen, and also Lucy, since one of our kids drew her name. I had also given tickets to the girls to see The Wizard of Oz in January and how fun to add Kathleen and Lucy to the party. Troy and I really enjoyed getting some movie money from Morris and Carol as well as a lovely fluffy scarf for me. We had fun picking out anime things for Alissa, who funny enough, gave anime t-shirts to Chase in return. Fellow anime lovers! Emma got a splendid gift from Lucy - an online drawing class and some markers. Romney got some legos which has been a favorite of hers still. And we gave Curtis star wars socks and t-shirt. What a pleasant afternoon together. Games and chatting and soup!

That very same night Troy and I snuck away from the family to go gather with his high school friends. We were meeting at Craig's house in Orem, but before we went there, we made a stop at the home of his friend Dave who owns two massive huskies. We have been following them on instagram and dying to meet these puppies. Romulus and Remus. Oh my gosh these dogs. I love them. They are absolutely massive. And friendly. And very licky. We didn't get any pictures of the actual party, but I grabbed a couple of selfies of me and the pooches. And for the record, the friend gathering was wonderful. I love Troy's friends.

So New Years Day. Much like Christmas, we decided to take the holiday firmly in our own hands. We had the whole day, and we did not want it to crawl by in a steady search of wondering what to do. We had a really good time putting together a day we would enjoy celebrating and enjoy remembering!

One of our activities was ice skating. Chase did not join us in this venture. He detests ice skating. So, his celebration was staying home. Troy and I took the girls though. Emma started the outing by clinging to the rail at all times, shuffling along and hardly daring to move. I don't know what clicked but by the end of the skate she was totally on her own! She was so proud of herself and so excited. She's still begging to go skating again but I haven't relented. Troy and I felt very old and sore. Skating is not easy on the ankles.

In the evening, Chase was invited to hang out at the Moore's house for a massive gaming night. We were invited as well - we are so excited because after 15 years of living in the neighborhood, they bought a house! In the neighborhood! Yay! We were very happy to go over there and spend the evening with them, but decided that we really wanted to go out to dinner first. The girls wanted to go to The Olive Garden. We decided to hit the downtown location. We went early - we were pretty nervous that it would be packed to the very gills. We weren't sure where to park or how bad it would be. Guess what. At 5:30 on New Years Eve people are not going out to dinner yet. We parked on the street right outside the front door. There was absolutely no wait, and in fact most of the tables were empty. It was awesome! Troy was even feeling festive enough to get appetizers. It was so fun!! 

I just loved that we decided what sounded like the most fun and just went ahead and did it. I am really loving family time these days. It's changing - I mean, basically Chase wasn't with us all day. He had a great day with friends. And it should be that way. He's 16. He should be with friends. But I miss him when he's gone. Of course, when he's with us, he's generally terrorizing his sisters so then I feel better about him going to be with friends. It's a weird line we walk these days. 

The evening with the Moores was fun, although we were laughing a bit because the adults were so tired. The Moores had earned it for sure - they had been moving since the day after Christmas. Basically I never want to move. What a lot of work, and how much more stuff we have than we think we have! The part of the evening that was not fun at all was watching the Utes totally falter in their Bowl Game, OUCH, but mostly it was super fun. Emily did a huge snack buffet for all the teenagers she had in her basement. Super nice.  The girls and Troy and I did not stay until midnight. We are too old and tired. We did watch the ball drop on tv at home, or at least Romney and I did. Emma went to bed and I think Troy was asleep on the couch. Bittersweet moment as always.

The next morning I did what I had wanted to do on Christmas morning - make Pioneer Woman sweet rolls which are ridiculously buttery and so tender and good. I realized that we had more food than we needed so I put in a call to my dad and to a couple of neighbors and suddenly we had a house full of people. I was glad we did it - I enjoyed the idea of a New Years Buffet and might do it again next year but with slightly more intent and....planning. Always planning, I am.

Well, that was that. We were pretty darn tired, and basically all we wanted to do after that was continue with our other favorite post-Christmas tradition of watching the Lord of the Rings. We get so excited about watching it every year that it makes the sting of Christmas ending a little easier. Last year we made a mistake and totally binged on them - one whole movie a night. It was over way too fast. This year we pledged to watch only half a movie a night. But what ended up happening was that a lot of activities got in the way and it took us like ten days or something to get through all of them. That wasn't all that bad - fun to enjoy it for so many days. And even longer because then we started watching all the making-of videos. Those are longer than the movies! So yay for New Years Traditions and good times.